General Stories About Hunting

1. The Beginning

2. Can't Wait But I Have To

3. Opening Day

4. Season Ends

5. Bo's

6. The Doemaster

7. The Gobblemaster

1. Three Fingers

2. Big Bad Mama Jama

3. Back To Where It All Began

4. Christening the Crossbow

1."If You Have Him Hollerin' Don't Start Follerin'."

Opening Day

As the blackness gives way to grays I can make out the silhouette of a large white oak tree directly in front of me. I've been listening to what sounds like rain for a half hour now. The sound is, in fact, an abundant acorn crop; a welcomed distraction after last year's drought stricken season. I watch a busy squirrel scurry down the tree and begin gathering the plentiful wealth of winter meals lying about the forest floor. Slowly, the grays yield to yellows, oranges, & reds & I have become the centerpiece of a tapestry only God could paint. The air is crisp & clean & somehow therapeutic, as the worries of the previous week now seem less significant. I've waited eight long months for this morning; for this reunion. Suddenly, I hear rustling in the distant leaves. My heart races & my eyes light up. Is it a deer? Is it a buck? As the noise comes closer, my heart pounds harder to the point of bursting out of my chest. I tell myself to calm down, to take deep breaths... but it's no use, the moment has embraced me as if to say "welcome home." This is Opening Day

Written By Donny McCaa